Winning is all that matters for Cody
Cody is far more pragmatic than that. It’s all about his team showing the right attitude, producing the right form and getting across the finishing line. Certainly, it’s not about impressing the critics, or, as he says himself, pleasing the connoisseurs.
Cody talks up his team’s display against Limerick a lot more positively than many neutrals would have rated it. It’s not in his nature to find fault with his players in public. Yet, by the same token, he readily admits that a repeat of this form will not be good enough to earn victory on Sunday.
It’s not so much a matter of talking up the Galway win over Tipperary, as impressive as that was. Cody consistently claims there’s nothing between the top seven or eight hurling teams.
“I just think they are a very good team. They were in the League final this year and last year they almost beat us in the All-Ireland quarter-final. They are a team full of good hurlers and I always felt they were going to perform very well. You would also have to say that the way Cork were able to withstand that pressure showed why they are All-Ireland champions.’’
Galway, he says, are one of the teams that ‘many at the start of the year would have on their short list’ as potential champions. He measures that potential by way of the structures they have in place through the county in regard to under-age, minor and Under-21.
“They may not have had success for a number of years, but they have been one of the top teams. The talent is there. The numbers are there.’’
He also reminds us that while there was a big gap on the scoreboard last year (19 points) it was “much more competitive than people made it out to be.”
As big an impression as Clare made a week ago, Cody points out that Galway did exactly the same in their quarter-final, coming back from being six points down with about 15 minutes to go and winning. “They literally ‘ran’ Tipperary and hurled them off their feet for the rest of that game. It was a top-class performance,” he added. “A few years ago in Salthill, they weren’t able to put Tipperary away on their own pitch. There’s a competitive edge and a bite to their play this year that makes them very serious.
“And I would see as well that possibly they weren’t particularly sure coming into the Tipperary game. But, the manner of their win and the attitude they showed - that they weren’t going to accept defeat - is bound to do a lot for their confidence.’’
Against Limerick, Cody believes Kilkenny “proved” they were competitive because their backs were to the wall 15 minutes into the second half. “They were literally hurling us off the pitch. We pulled it together, we took back control and we went on and won the game. I think it was a great win for us. Maybe it’s because people have seen Kilkenny score goals on different occasions that they are measuring performance on something that may have happened so many years ago. I don’t know what they are basing it on.
“All we are trying to do is get from ‘A’ to ‘B’ every single day we go out and win a match and Limerick were serious opposition. They were because they barely lost out to Galway - who proved themselves a very good team in the meantime.
“We’re going to be hard to beat and I’m hugely confident of the talent that’s in the team. The attitude is first-class. We’re playing a very good team. Whether we ‘flow’ for the connoisseurs is not the important thing.’’
Whatever about being sure about being able to lift their standard, Cody admits that he will definitely be looking for a better performance. And based on the view that the team is ‘that bit sharper,’ they’re optimistic on that score. However, he readily admits that if they fail to achieve their aim, they’ll be in trouble.
There was nothing ‘mysterious’ about the holding of a number of training sessions in private after the quarter-final, Cody says. It was true that Kilkenny never closed their doors before, but it was common practice for a lot of counties to decide to close the doors to the public on particular nights.
“It wasn’t as if we had massive plans or we have secret weapons or anything like that - just simply to maybe focus a small bit more. We do get good turn-outs from the public and we have always appreciated that, but we are on the go a long time - the team, plus manager. We were looking for a bit of freshness. There was no mystery to it.”
Cody wasn’t so forthcoming in revealing their plans for Tommy Walsh, who is expected to be picked at corner-back. On this particular issue, he pointed out that so far he had played everywhere for Kilkenny except in the full-forward line, that he was capable of playing there and that ‘maybe’ they might play him there.
Every game they play without Noel Hickey accentuates his massive loss to the team, says Cody. Losing him was something they never envisaged, and it was a shame “for himself first and foremost and for the team as well.
In what could conceivably be his last game in charge (if Kilkenny were to lose), Cody views Sunday’s game as a ‘brilliant challenge.’
“The fact that one of us is going to be in the final is the real driving force for both teams. It’s a massive prize. Both teams want it as badly as the other,” he said.
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